Archive for January 18, 2026
Can it be done again?
Saturday, 17 January 2026: Tottenham v West Ham 1-2 (0-1)
This win over Tottenham has instilled new belief into West Ham’s squad and supporters and could be the starting point for an escape from relegation, just like an other game against Tottenham was instrumental in West Ham’s “greatest escape” of 2007!
West Ham’s “Greatest Escape” in the PL season of 2006/07: The chart shows league position and points accumulation on West Ham match days or days when their position was altered by other results.
On 4 March 2007 it was a game against Tottenham at Upton Park in which West Ham lead 2-0 at halftime, but eventually lost 3-4, which despite of the defeat, galvanised the struggling team and was the starting point of the “greatest escape” as described in a book with the subtitle “The craziest season in West Ham United’s history” by Daniel Hurley (pictured above).
The main reason why in my opinion this game was crucial for the Hammers’ race to catch up with the teams ahead of them and avoid the drop were the first two goals scored at Upton Park that afternoon: for the first one 19-year-old Academy product Mark Noble got on the scoresheet, and the second one was scored by Carlos Tevez who converted a free kick, making it 2-0. Being that his first goal for West Ham he famously celebrated it by getting of his shirt and jumping into the crowd.
After this game the Hammers started a streak of wins beginning with an away victory at Blackburn in which Tevez scored again! But it was the defeat against Tottenham which had shown the team and its manager Alan Curbishley that they were able to compete with the clubs ahead of them in the table and that Carlos Tevez eventually had “arrived” in the Premier League and would be able to do brilliant things with confidence regained!
Every season is different, and this time West Ham is not 11 points from safety with only nine games to go! But maybe in 2025/26 it could also be a game against Tottenham which made us realise that after ten winless league games winning is still possible for the Hammers and that fortune isn’t always hiding! A potential penalty for Spurs in the 85th minute wasn’t given and Callum Wilson scored the winner for West Ham in injury time!
Let’s hope that, as Clemens texted in the Austrian Irons WhatsApp group, the victory against Spurs will give us a bit of a boost and motivation, and we can continue to score goals and win points in the next few games.
Anyway, signing new centre-back would still be very important in this transfer window…
Come on you Irons!
EXTRA TIME 
Recent Comments